Tuesday, February 01, 2011

The InQuizitive Brigade

One of the many legacies that I have inherited from my elder brother (Sunil Ranjan Mallik) is our passion for quizzing. And the hobby started with Siddhartha Basu's India Quiz on Doordarshan. It went on to became the passion of a lifetime with my brother being the torchbearer. We loved watching the likes of Bournvita Quiz Contest and BBC Mastermind. We also sent our answers on postcards for the lucky draw after each episode of Surabhi - which ran on Doordarshan for more than ten years showcasing small documentaries on art and culture. To improve our chances of winning, we also used to send one nomination on behalf of each of our family members. On top of that, just to make our postcard reach early, I used to walk (sometimes in evenings) till the Balasore Railway Station to drop the postcards directly at the Railway Mail Service (RMS) office located on platform number two. These fruitless endeavors continued for many a television series till my brother left Balasore for Delhi to pursue higher education in 1996.

Although, we have never competed in a quiz competition as part of the same team, there was once in 1995 that we competed against eachother. As part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations at Fakir Mohan College - I was in my First Year (English Hons) and he was in his Third Year (Chemistry Hons) - we came face to face in the team quiz competition finals. His team (surely the best on that day) was declared the winner while mine was the second best. When I look back, I feel proud of the fact that in the one of the biggest colleges of coastal Orissa we two could finish on the podium. We later received our trophies from the then chief minister of Orissa Biju Patnaik who was the chief guest for the prize giving ceremony. I had also won awards in debate (English, Hindi) and essay writing. However, to share the podium with my brother is what I remember the most. The trophies have lost their shine, but the legend still shines on.

Postscript: This post is also dedicated to all those avid quizzards who made Balasore proud during those times (1993-1998): Azijur Azam, Ajib Raut, Siddharth Mohanty, Sunil Ranjan Mallik, Debabrata Mohanty, and Debabrata DasMohapatra. I apologize if I have failed to mention any of the names.

Hello.I started to write blog in English.I will write about everything, will be a lot of pictures, reviews of books, films, songs etc.So it would be nice if you visit my blog sometimes :)(Sorry for mistakes, I'm still learning English)http://bianchii.blogspot.com(you can follow me)

Wow! What can I say?Truely a nice article and thanks for your great work. By the way,welcome to our websites. You most definitely have made this article into something special. At the same time,Welcome to look at my website ghd uk and hope we can become good friends, and exchange and to help each other! Thanks.Best Ghd Hair StraightenerWhat's more, you can visit Ghd Australia to browse New Hair Straighteners

Hi there I love reading your blog....I've just moved to Mumbai with my family and would appreciate it if you took a look and perhaps also followed me? I need some support and love making new friends. I love India! And Mumbai. Mumbai meri Jaan! Queenie

I found this is an informative and interesting post for I think it is very useful and knowledgeable. I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article. I am hoping the same best work from you in the future as well. In fact your creative writing ability has inspired me.Cheap Flights to LagosFlights to LagosLagos flights

Nice blog indeed. I will always go back for your nice updates, Thank You for posting great articles with useful and up to date topics. I really appreciate your efforts in doing so! I hope to read more interesting topics from your blog!TestKing

First of all let me tell you, you have got a great blog. I am interested in looking for more of such topics and would like to have further information. Hope to see the next blog soon.Stock TipsEquity Tips

Lols Gag is the the Best Lol Network Ever, where you can every thing is lol and Funny, Troll Images, Funny Vidoes, Prank Peoples, Funny Peoples, Prank Images, Fail Pictures, Epic Pictures, Epic Videos, Prank Videos, Fail Videos and Much More Fun and Entertainment, Lols and Gags, Lol Pictures, Lol Videos, Funny Pictures, Lol is the Laugh out of Laugh where you can Fun Unlimited and Laughing Unlimited.lolsgag.com